2015-04-26

It's almost a hilarious video, from Toronto police worried over this phenomenon to the contradictory claims of the anti-counterfeit task force to the sight of Leafs fans miserably noticing how much they've given to their shitty team has ripped them off for this jersey. (Also classic, a reminder of how "negotiations via calculator" works in the non-first and non-English speaking world).

The big aspect seems to be whether or not the "Reebok" logo is included or not, to decide if they pass muster. I've checked my fake jerseys, and none of them have the Reebok logo. Of course, it only cost me $40 each to pick them up. And I got to pick which names go on the back of the jersey. (including former team players

Nobody who looks carefully at my jerseys would ever think they were authentic: when I wore my Oilers jersey for the first time, Martok actually gasped when he saw that the lines weren't correct. And let's just say that after running my one jersey through the wash I'm awfully glad I used my least favourite one as a test case.

Of course, the NHL authentically sells ripoff not-really-jerseys at WalMart for $40 too. The stitching is all wrong, the number on the back is basically tie-died on, and the colours run if you sweat in them too much. There are, in other words, numerous options available to the fan short of throwing $150 down on a jersey that doesn't even have a number on the back.

Or, worse, #OilersFistCaptain, the anti-Albertan asshole who's the worst Oiler in team history.

Bonus irrationality: The argument against these jerseys, by several people in this documentary, is that these people aren't paying taxes. Good. I don't want to be paying taxes either!